Second Chances
by sub0chick
Summary: Steve and Bucky are de-aged, the rest of the Avengers have to figure out what to do next


**Title**: Second Chances  
**Author**: jujukittychick  
**Fandom**: Avengers/Captain America/Iron Man  
**Cast**: Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Tony, Clint, Thor, Sam, Pepper, and Happy too. And Loki. And a special guest  
**Warnings**: none  
**Rating**: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Avengers or Captain America or their characters and am making no money; I am doing this for my own fun and entertainment. The fandom belongs to its respective creators and owners who *are* making money off them.  
**Beta**: NONE! Any mistakes are my own  
**Spoilers**: Captain America: the Winter Soldier  
**Prompt: **LJ stories_a_z - S

**A/N**: I haven't written anything in months and this is my first time writing in this fandom and I literally had this whole fic plotted out as soon as I woke up, go figure. Also, I had to do research on instant pudding, seriously. The things you do as an author lol. This was not how I thought this would go, but I managed to make myself cry by the end

**Summary**: Steve and Bucky are de-aged, the rest of the Avengers have to figure out what to do next

Later, the rest of the group would figure out it was probably Loki's doing, there was no other way for the mysterious package to have gotten inside the heavily protected Avengers' Tower living areas. For now, the group stood in shock in the kitchen, looking at the two equally bewildered toddlers and the bowl of chocolate pudding sitting on the table between them.

From the looks of it, Steve and Bucky had been making instant pudding, something that reminded them of better times of their teen years when they had a little extra money to spend to treat themselves. The reactions of the rest of the team when they had found them making it the first time had run the gamut of unimpressed but understanding (Tony, Bruce and Clint as they'd all grown up with it) to slightly confused but enthralled (Thor and Natasha as they had both missed out on it).

Regardless, it had become a weekend tradition for the two super-soldiers when they weren't out on a mission, standing in the kitchen in their sweat pants and t-shirts, both looking sleep rumpled, Bucky's hair in a messy ponytail, big band music playing softly in the background as they prepared the treat, slowly working their way through all the new flavors that were available though they usually returned to their original plain chocolate, before sitting at the dining table while the sun poured through the window as they ate out of the mixing bowl. The rest of the team usually tried to give the two their space during these moments, letting the two friends reconnect, remember, de-stress from having to deal with everything the modern world kept throwing at them.

This time, though, Jarvis had set off the alarms, summoning everyone to the kitchen minutes after the two had entered the area. When the group had arrived, in various states of dress given the early hour but all armed to some degree, they had frozen in shock at the scene before them. A miniature Steve and Bucky stood on the dining room chairs, reflexively clutching their spoons as they looked around wide-eyed and confused. But they weren't really miniaturized, they were children, toddlers, but at the same time, that wasn't really right either as they two hadn't been de-aged back to their original child bodies, Bucky still had his metal arm and Steve was still healthy looking and their clothes had shrunken with them.

Natasha took a step forward, her eyes darting between the two boys, noting the similarities and differences in her normal quick way, but, for once, at a complete loss as to what to do. A gasp behind her had her turning her head to see Pepper standing with a hand over her mouth, one hand clutching Tony's arm, her eyes filled with some emotion Natasha was at a loss to place.

"Mommy?"

This time it was a collective surprised gasp from the group and darting gazes from her to the boys behind her that had her turning around, a fearful looking Bucky staring straight at her. Steve had turned to look at her too, and she couldn't help the tears that threatened to fall as she stared at her two friends, the only other people besides Clint and Phil that she had ever allowed to get close to her. The two men had been through so much in their lives, gone through so much more to find their way back to each other, and now this. The lost look on both their small faces was what finally pulled her back to herself, and with a hard swallow, she nodded and knelt down on the floor between them, reaching up to cup both their faces with her hands, a cheerful smile she didn't feel tilting her lips. "Yes, baby?"

Bucky's face scrunched up as he looked from Steve to Natasha to the rest of the group. "Not right?"

Natasha could hear Pepper sniffling behind her at the tentative words. "No, baby, this isn't right. But we'll fix it. I promise."

Steve, who had remained quiet the entire time, looked around the group before tilting his head curiously as he focused on Clint. "Daddy?"

The alarmed look on Clint's face pulled a laugh from the rest of the group as he quickly denied it, shaking his head furiously. "No, kiddo, not quite. Just Uncle Clint."

Steve looked from Bucky back to the group, his gaze finally falling on Bruce before moving to Tony with his arm around a quietly crying Pepper. Focusing on his dark hair and the glowing circle in the middle of his chest, he tilted his head the other way. "Daddy?"

Surprising everyone, most especially Pepper, Tony cleared his throat and stepped forward, kneeling down next to Natasha. "Yeah, sport?"

"You fix?"

The utter trust in that steady blue gaze nearly floored Tony. "Yeah, Uncle Bruce and I are gonna fix this. We'll have you back to normal in no time."

"Daddy? Arm hurt."

Tony turned his head to look at Bucky and noticed that the boy's metal arm looked pinned to his side, and figured something about the quick change had managed to short something out. "Yeah, I bet it does." Glancing at Natasha and back to the rest of the group, he nodded to himself and stood, dusting his hands off on his pants. "C'mon, sport, let's go down to the lab and take a look at it. You too, Steve. I think you both need to have a quick exam and make sure everything's alright with your insides." Reaching out, he poked both their bellies gently, earning a giggle from each of them.

The two boys looked at each as the adults talked quickly in hushed tones. Bucky looked from Steve to the pudding and back, tilting his head. Steve looked from the pudding to Bucky, hesitating a moment before nodding slowly.

Bucky reached out with his good hand and tugged gently on Natasha's sleeve as she had stayed with them as the others hashed out a plan of action until they could figure out what had happened to their teammates.

Looking down at the boy, she forced the smile to her face once more. "Yes, baby?"

Bucky hesitated a moment, looking at Steve for a long moment before looking back up at her and pointing toward the pudding. "Keep?"

Natasha felt like her breath had been knocked out of her and stumbled back into an empty chair. Glancing at the other adults still huddled together, she leaned forward, keeping her voice low as she spoke to the two. "You know what happened to you two? What changed you?"

Steve hesitated, and then pointed to the bowl of pudding and the box with more innocent looking full packages sitting on the counter.

"You want to keep it? To stay little?" Natasha's mind was racing. They obviously had more than a little of their normal selves still, which was good, but at the same time… She looked between the two, seeing guilty faces and unsure shrugs.

Steve was the one that finally ventured a response; she figured it was that overwhelming need for truth he seemed to feel that got the better of him. "Easy."

Cursing softly in Russian, she covered her face with her hands before she heard a soft accusing "ooooh" from Bucky and peeked between her fingers to see him covering his mouth and giggling as he looked at her. Realizing that he must still remember Russian, even though he would have no way of knowing it as an actual child, she tilted her head curiously, hands dropping from her face as she stared at the two of them knowingly. "You know who I am?"

The boys glanced at each other before nodding guiltily, Bucky venturing forth with "Tash-mommy."

Without looking behind him, Steve came forward with, "Pep-mommy, Daddy-Tony, Unca Bruce, Unca Thor, Unca Clint, Unca Sam, Unca Happy."

Bucky glanced at the ceiling. "Ghost-Jarvy."

Pieces falling together, their request suddenly made more sense. Bucky and Steve were both orphans, even before their "deaths." They'd only had themselves as family for a long time. Steve had seen the results of Bucky being tortured, had watched him fall to his supposed death, had taken on a suicide mission to only be frozen and thawed out in a future he had no grasp on. Bucky had been tortured, over and over, reprogrammed, used as a weapon, used as a weapon against his best friend, his brother in all but blood, kept frozen and locked away until Hydra needed their pet weapon again and left lost and without purpose in a future he had little experience with. No wonder they weren't rushing to return to their normal selves. It was times like this she wished Phil was around to take charge.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and stood, bending down to pick up each of the boys, making sure Bucky had his good arm wrapped securely around her since he still couldn't move his metal arm, though Steve had a hold of both them, just in case it seemed. "Guys, maybe we should take this to the lab so Tony and Bruce can work while they talk." Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the suddenly guilty looking men expectantly before they nodded and near tripped over themselves as they all turned to head down the hall all at once. Rolling her eyes, she looked over at the other red-head who had her normal amused-with-silly-boys smile tilting her lips. "We need to talk."

.oOo.

It had taken very little time for Natasha to explain her theory about the boys' request, helped along by sad, reluctant nods from the boys themselves. Unsurprisingly, Pepper was all too willing to help and made sure that the already made pudding was frozen and all but one of the remaining packages secreted away, the remaining one given to Bruce and Tony to analyze. While the boys were being examined, with a protective Natasha supervising, Pepper dragged Happy out to take her shopping. They were going to need a few things.

The ladies managed to convince the men that since it was going to take time to analyze the mix to see what had caused the change and what could be done to reverse it; the boys needed clothes and things to keep them occupied. And hey, wasn't Steve's birthday next month? He'd surely like to have an actual little kid's birthday party, and no, Tony, he didn't need actual zoo animals at the party. And hey, wasn't Bucky's birthday a couple months away as well, it'd be a shame if he didn't get to have a birthday party too, and no, Tony, he didn't need the Blue Angels to perform. And oh, look at that, it's almost Halloween; wouldn't it just be too cute to have them dress up and go trick or treating? And a real family Thanksgiving dinner? And Christmas with a tree and presents and decorations?

A year later, they'd all gotten into the new routine, looking out for their boys, and they were theirs, all of them becoming one giant mismatched family. It wasn't always easy, what with the majority of them getting called away on Avenger missions and having to come up with an explanation as to where exactly Captain America and the Winter Soldier had gone. And why they suddenly had two familiar looking little boys living with them. Between Clint and Natasha's shadier contacts and Tony and Pepper's more legal contacts, they managed to get papers showing that Tony and Pepper had adopted two orphans, which was actually more or less true. Technically, Bruce and Tony had figured out a cure before Bucky's birthday ever rolled around, but by then, they'd all seen how much more happy and relaxed the two little boys had become and none of them had been willing to take that away from them. And if half of them seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much as the boys doing little kid things for the first time in their lives with no fear of reprisals…well, no one ever mentioned that either.

The morning of the anniversary of their change proceeded just as normal, the boys tumbling into the kitchen sleep rumpled in their pajamas, Natasha and Pepper already sitting at the table sipping coffee while the others staggered in in various states of wakefulness (from Clint's barely functioning to Tony's up-all-night caffeine jitters to Thor's bright eyed booming). They'd all just sat down to eat when suddenly the two little boys were two grown men in dinosaur pajamas, blinking confusedly at the rest of them.

It was so reminiscent of that first day, the whole room quiet as everybody stared in shock. Natasha broke first, her hands clenched on the edge of the table so hard her knuckles turned white. "Steve? Bucky?"

"Tasha?" Bucky's voice broke in the middle as if his voice couldn't quite decide which range it was supposed to be in.

The room was abruptly filled with noise, cheers and laughter and tears, everyone crowding around the two to hug them, welcoming them back, though they had never really gone anywhere. It took a few minutes for them to realize that their "boys" weren't quite as ecstatic as the rest of them.

"Guys? You two okay?" Tony reached out to cup each of their faces in his hands, a familiar habit by then.

"I don't…" Steve looked at Bucky.

"We can't…" Bucky looked at Steve.

They both looked lost and helpless, clutching each other's hand tightly.

It was Thor that broke the silence after that. "Loki!"

With an irritated huff, the god appeared. "You bellowed?"

"What is the meaning of this, brother?"

Loki tried for an innocent look but gauging from the way Natasha was suddenly clutching a dagger, it wasn't working well. Rolling his eyes, he sighed and leaned against the counter so he could keep all of them in his sights. "Fine. So I meddled a little, though it didn't quite go as expected. I figured you lot would have them changed back in a matter of weeks and those two would simply be embarrassed and everyone would get a good laugh. I didn't expect….this." He waved his hand at the very familial scene in front of him. Tilting his head, he let his gaze track slowly over each of them before shrugging fatalistically. "Though I guess I should have known better; you're all so damaged with so many family issues." Ignoring the multitude of glares directed his way at that comment, including Tony's muttered "pot meet kettle," at which he had to fight from showing how he flinched at the words, he turned to look at the two men in question, clapping his hands together with a grin on his face once more. "So, decision time. Since you're friends of my brother and all," he couldn't resist rolling his eyes, "I'm going to be generous. Since you are now both consenting adults, it's up to you. Stay as you are now, or return to children, it's your decision. You have the tools to change yourselves back at any time and I'll leave the magic in the items active. You only need a small amount once a year, unless countered, to change back to the ages you were at and you will continue to age naturally, a year for a year. Have fun." And simply disappeared.

The group sat in silence, looking at each other as the ramifications of what Loki said rolled over them. At a loss for words, Tony simply looked at each of them at the table, all the lost souls that had come to be family for him. Glancing at Pepper and Happy, the first people he voluntarily called family, he looked back to the table at large. "It's up to you guys what you want to do. There's enough of that stuff that such small doses would last the two of you until you're back to your current age with plenty left over." He made very sure he didn't look at anyone else at the table, though he felt Pepper squeezing his hand under the table. She always had understood him. He felt Happy's sturdy hand land on his shoulder in a show of support.

Thor nodded, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Indeed. My brother may have meant this as an act of mischief, but it would seem to be an opportune chance at a new life, a new beginning."

Like Tony, Sam didn't look at anyone specifically as he spoke. "You know, I'd miss you guys as you are, you're my friends and we've been through a lot, but I wouldn't blame you for taking the option of a second chance at life. You've had some rough lives. You'd have some pretty cool guardians after all." They all managed to chuckle at that.

Pepper finally spoke up as the silence dragged out. "How about this; we give it a week. A week for you guys to think things through, to get your affairs in order if it comes to that, and then we'll all meet back here. And whatever any of you decide is what we'll go with. You always have the option of changing back if it comes to it."

.oOo.

A week of quiet conversations between different people came to an end, a week of tough decisions and questions and revelations and what ifs. A week of tears.

A week after that, Tony and Pepper, accompanied by their friends, their family of choice, met with the headmaster of a nearby school that they had convinced to do some in-home tutoring. Shaking hands with the gentleman, Tony gestured to the children standing quietly nearby. "I'd like to introduce our children: Steve, Bucky, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha." Sam and Happy stood behind them protectively. "They're…special. They probably won't need much in the way of general education, but we'd like for them to be able to pursue any special interests they may have."

The bald man in the wheelchair looked up at them with a serene smile. "It just so happens that my fellow teachers and I are very used to…special children." The tutor looked over to where Thor stood nervously next to the children. "And you are?"

"I am Thor. And this is my little brother, Loki." Thor looked down at the little boy standing in front of him, and squeezed his shoulders gently. Everybody deserved a second chance after all.


End file.
